Jim Morrison

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American rock singer and rock lyric who achieved after his death a cult
position among fans. Morrison wished to be accepted as a serious artist, and he
published such collections of poetry as An American Prayer (1970) and
The Lords and The New Creatures (1971). The song lyrics Morrison wrote
for The Doors much reflected the tensions of the time - drug culture, the
antiwar movement, avant-garde art. With his early death Morrison has been seen
as a voluntary victim of the destructive forces in pop culture. However, he was
not ignorant about the consequences of fame and his position as an idol. Morrison
once confessed that "We're more interested in the dark side of life, the evil
thing, the night time."

"This is the end, beautiful friend.It hurts to set you free,But you'll never follow me.The end of laughter and soft lies.The
end of nights we tried to die.This is the... end."

Jim Morrison was born in Melbourne, Florida. His father was a
US Navy admiral and the family moved according to his father's numerous
postings. Morrison was early interested in literature, he excelled at school and
he had an IQ of 149. Morrison studied theatre arts at the University of
California. With his fellow student Ray Manzarek and John Densmore and Robbie
Krieger he formed a group which was in 1965 christened The Doors. The name was
taken from Aldous Huxley's book on mescaline, The Doors of Perception,
which quoted William Blake's poem (If the doors of perception were cleansed /
All things would appear infinite). All the members of the band read much, not
only Morrison. Their first album, THE DOORS (1967), mixed performances from
Bertold Brecht/Kurt Weil's 'Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)' to Willie Dixon's 'Back
Door Man'. The lyrics Morrison wrote in 1965 dominated the first two Doors
albums. The first single chart success came in July 1967 with 'Light My
Fire'.

Like in the late 1950s when the beatniks tried to unite jazz and poetry,
Morrison found from music a channel to project his poetry, and add to it a
theatrical aspect. Thus improvising and unpredictableness was a part of the
band's show on stage. The mythical Lizard King, Morrison's alter ego, appeared
first in the best-selling record WAITING FOR THE SUN (1968) in a poem that
printed inside the record jacked. I was entitled "The Celebration of the Lizard
King". Part of the lyrics were used in "Not to Touch the Earth" and the complete
"Celebration" appeared on record ABSOLUTELY LIVE (1970).

Morrison's drinking, exhibitionistic performances, and drug-taking badly
affected his singing and input at recordings. "Let's just say I was testing the
bounds of reality. I was curious to see what would happen. That's all it was:
just curiosity." (Morrison in Los Angeles, 1969) In Miami in 1969 the audience
thought it saw Jim's "snake" - he was charged with exposing himself on stage, in
full view of 10.000 people. The police did not arrest him on the spot, for fear
that it would cause a riot. Next year Morrison was sentenced 8 months' hard
labor and a $500 fine for 'profanity' and 'indecent exposure', but he remained
free while the sentence was appealed against. THE SOFT PARADE (1969) was
received with mixed emotions but it had a hit single, 'Touch me'.

After Miami everything changed and Morrison put his leather pants in
closet. "See me change," he sang. He grew a beard, started to take distance to
his fans, and devote more time with projects outside the band. John Densmore has
later told in an interview, that although he knew Jim well, there was so much
about him that he could not find out. Possessed by his inner visions and urge to
write and create music Morrison also had troubles to explain his aims.

"O great creator of being, grant us one more hourto perform our art
and perfect our lives."

In April 1970 MORRISON HOTEL hit the lists in the U.S. and England. It was
hailed as a major comeback. One song on it, 'Queen of the Highway', was
dedicated Morrison's wife, Pamela. On his 27th birthday, Morrison made the
recordings at Elektra's LA studio of his poetry, which later formed the basis of
AN AMERICAN PRAYER. The Doors played their last concert with Morrison in New
Orleans. It was a disaster - Morrison smashed the microphone into the stage,
threw the stand into the crowd and slumped down.

"Lost in a Roman wilderness of pain.And all the children are
insane,Waiting for the summer rain."

After finishing sessions for a new album, L.A. WOMAN, Morrison escaped to
Paris, where he hoped to follow literary career. He never came back from Paris.
His first book, THE LORDS AND THE NEW CREATURES, was published by Simon and
Schuster in 1971. It went into paperback after selling 15.000 in hardback. An
earlier book, AN AMERICAN PRAYER, was privately printed in 1970, but not made
widely available until 1978. On 3 July 1971 Morrison was found death in his
bathtub. He had regurgitated a small amount of blood on the night of July 2, but
claimed he felt fine. Recently had consulted a local doctor concerning a
respiratory problem.

Morrison was buried at Pére Lachaise cemetery in Paris, which houses
remains of many famous artists, statesmen and legendaries from Edith Piaf to
Oscar Wilde. In 1990 his graffiti-covered headstone was stolen.